It’s not often you can find everything you want in a high end surf rod at half the price. The Prevail provides strength and performance with a two-piece graphite composite rod blank. Stainless steel frames with aluminum oxide inserts create a light weight and durable guide perfect for fishing mono or braid. The rubber shrink tube handle design provides a secure grip whether wet or dry. The Prevail is a perfect match for PENN Sargus, Fierce or Pursuit spinning reels or Squall star drag conventional reels. Check out the rod to reels combination chart to find suggested reel to rod combinations.

I own 3. Going to eventually buy 2 more. Bad reviews are for people that abuse their gear. Period. This rod is very nice for the price. Literally my favorite thing on earth is my 9' Prevail equipped with a Fin-Nor Megalite 60. Its the most versatile outfit I own out of about 20 complete spinning outfits. I have a rod for everything including a 4wt fly rod to a 13wt saltwater fly rod. From a 5' ultralight with a 250 spinner to a 12' Prevail and a Fin Nor Lethal 100 (10,000 size). I mostly to saltwater fishing nearly excludsively surf fishing. Transitioning from mountain streams and lakes to open ocean.
It's not how much money your gear cost. I've seen $300 rods break just as easy as $5 rods. Mainly it's how to care for your gear. I have rules. Never let the tip hit the ground (mainly when disarmed and leaning against a wall). Never store with the line reeled tight (hooked on an guide). Never leave in a car. Always wash good after saltwater (make sure water isn't inside of the blank when washing disarmed). Join the rod pieces with the quarter turn method and always wax the ferrules. Never overload the rod (if it's rated for 4oz, don't try to whip out 8oz as hard as your can). Don't set the hook with a hand above any guides (hands in the hand grips only because you risk overloading just the top section). Those simple rules will let a rod love a LONG time. My dad gave me a rod he got in the 80s and it's still catching shark.
The same care goes for reels. I have a Shakespear Sigma 80 2200ck model from the early 90s that STILL comes with me on the beach for catching pompano. Replaced the crank candle 4 months ago.
So with that rant, care for your gear and it'll last a long time.
The Prevail has a great action. The seat can have flex but that's because the butt section isn't reinforced. I personally like the entire blank having flex. Flex isn't a cheap feeling. That fluid and dynamic action lets the stress of hooking something big unload all the way to the butt cap.
Graphite reel seats are my favorite because metal ones are often over tightened AND believe it or not break easier because the lack of flex causes the metal to "crack" and break. I keep two worm-clamps and some zip ties JUST for this. Nothing is worst that a busted seat and a reel at your feet while hooked up on a fish. Never have I see a graphite seat break (except for a pole my buddy kept in his car in south Florida year round but I think he tossed a tackle box or groceries on top of this reel.)
The slim blank has a minimalist look yet the details on the gear shrink and aluminum butt cap fitted with a rubber shock butt... super intellectual look. The blanks wraps and dark red and black finish is nice to look at.
The action is nice. The heavy action 12' isn't sensitive enough for smaller fish like whiting. Don't get the 12' unless you need it for larger fish like shark and, striped, and tarpon. Once hooked up, small fish feel big and big fish feel as excepted on the fight. The medium weight is where the money is. I haven't tried to light weight versions. I probably won't because I'm not on the gulf. That's be a great rod for calmer waters.
The guides are kinda generic. Typical low budge rod guides. Not sure of the brand. I haven't lost an insert yet. The guides are smooth. Braid hasn't cut into the guide yet. They haven't gave me problems. None of them are loose or spin. The overall feel of the guides is smooth on the cast. If you lose a tip guide insert, you mishandled the rod. I use my 9' to sling plugs and poppers on the beach and I whip them out there all hard and stuff.
I'll buy more. I'd rather get 3 of these than one fancy top shelf rod. I catch a lot of fish with this rod. Heck, the other morning my girlfriend and I couldn't get our rods in the sand spikes. We were hooking up within seconds our shrimp hit the water. Pompano rigs with 5oz sputniks. 25 fish in 2 hours. Majority of the time was putting more bait on and explaining to tourist that the sting rays won't kill them. And we had to take a break to drink our beer...
So if you are a beginner, budget minded angler, or pro... get one of these rods in your life. I haven't seen a bad review that wasn't the factories fault. Also TackleDirext know how to ship rods. Some of these A-holes on seller sites thru Amazon or other crap dealers don't put enough packing... and that means when the underpaid package handler working at FedUPS is rough, that tip guide is gonna get some pressure put on it. Not with tacklesdirect. Got 5? Rods from them.

By BigE

Sacramento california

December 14, 2016

Gets the job done

I bought the penn prevail with the blacktiph combo and the rods does good with the penn 8500 spinfisher spooled with 30LB backing and 65 power pro for main line use this for sturgeon and heavy current when I need throw large baits and sinkers has good backbone for hauling in them heavy fish

ProsThrows heavy baits with no problem , and is incredibly light weight with plenty back bone to have a strong hook set into those lunker size fish ,

ConsHeavy and kinda off balance >WHEN< you add those bigger reels
Good rod but wouldn't be my first choice
And made in China really penn
Would I said worth the money if you think so I'd rather wait the extra while to save up for a better rod ,

By Paul stettnisch

New jersey

April 6, 2016

Nice rod

I fished this rod and I am pleased with the handling and feel

By Jim

Murrieta, CA

August 1, 2015

Good rod

I paired this rod up with a Penn Fierce 5000 and it's very nicely balanced. I'm using it for fishing off the rocks and jetty at a lagoon near me and it performs well. Long casts, loads up well with a 1oz weight and a fishfinder rig with live bait.

ProsLight, good action and balanced nicely with my Fierce 5000.

ConsIt's rated to handle up to a 2oz lure but I don't get the casting distance I want with that much weight.

By b pop

new york

July 8, 2015

good for the money

well made and performed as expected

Proswas a good combination with purchase with the spinning reel
am new to surf fishing and I thought I did pretty good for my first time out as to distance and location
using in south America

Consnone

By Christopher

Long Beach, NY

May 24, 2015

Love this rod for 90% of my S.Bass fishing

9’ Med. Great rod. Penn replaced a defective Spinfisher rod with this one. I’m glad it broke. This is a better rod.

I use the Penn Prevail for chunking, I personally like it a lot. I have caught nice fish and some occasional sharks with it.

By Db

new york, NY

February 9, 2015

quality

I fished this rod for 2years
still great shape and no problems so far..
Worth the price as all penn rod does..

Prosaffordable

By Db

Nj

January 26, 2015

solid choice

The rod is very light. But back bone has great strength.
Great affordable rod

ProsLight weight

By Eric

Cherry Hill, NJ

January 17, 2015

Casts far

Has a great feel and casts far. Can't beat the price. If you throw plugs this rod will tire you out quick though.

By Peter

Philadelphia, PA

January 6, 2015

Great rod right off the bat

I just received this rod and even though I havent been able to use it yet I can just see how well it is built. I would defiantly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a quality rod.

ProsCome in two parts
Great grip feel

ConsRod seat it just injection plastic

By JukeJoint

Raleigh, NC

December 22, 2014

Very nice for the price

I got mine on sale so why not give it a try....despite other reviews online, this one did pretty well on a CALO trip, lots of fish and huge rays up to 50lbs, did just fine. Not the best out there but a great rod for the price, I'd buy it again.

ProsValue

By Christopher

RUMFORD, RI

September 4, 2014

Excellent rod.

Talk about bang for your buck. This rod is affordable and has most of the features you will find on rods twice or even three times the price. Great weight and feel to the rod. You can't go wrong with this rod especially for the price.

ProsSolid
Lightweight
Well built

By Stacy

New Franklin, OH

August 9, 2014

Power house of a rod!

For the price of this rod, you cant beat the quality. The strenght of this rod impressed me very much. I definitly put it to the test on this trip we went on. From shark fishing to getting hooked up to about a 30-40# ray that was fight to using it for an anchor set-up for pin rigging of the pier. Handled every situation with out a worry. Smooth smooth casting and sensitivity was good too. Weight for lenghth and strenghth of this rod is great. Very light rod but strong

ProsStrong and versital. Smooth casting and cmofortable feel. Very light weight for the size and strenghth.

I am involved with many facets of fishing. Freshwater, kayak fishing and now recently Surf fishing. When I first started I tried to go the cheaper route and getting cheaper rods, The rods were heavy and did not have the right action I wanted. I found the Penn Prevail rods and figured for the price I would give it a try. I wish I would have just found the penn prevail first, but then again I might not have anything to compare it to and wouldn't appreciate what a great rod it actually is. Very light. Durable and quite beautiful. I bought a second one- that's how much I love this rod!

Prosprice, build, aesthetics.

Consnone whatsoever

By William Edwards

Franklin, Va

December 1, 2012

A winner!

Good looking, light as a feather, handles up to 6 ounces well. Performs just as well as my $200 St Croix

By William Edwards

Franklin, Va

December 1, 2012

prevail 9ft surf rod

Good looking, light as a feather, great action for throwing up to 5 ounces. Performs just as well as my $200 St Croix.

Im looking to get a surf rod for small sharks from 3-7' can this rod handle the drag pressure from a penn spinfisher v 9500 if not what would be a good rod for less then 125 thanks for your help :)

1 Answers

The 9500 is a LARGE reel. The rod should be fine but you may want to consider downsizing the reel a little. Another good rod option in your price range is the Battalion 12' , model PEN-1377. It is slightly heavier than the Prevail and will match up better to the 9500.

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